Greene County employment up, wages down in 4Q 2011

Employment in Greene County was up 2.5 percent in fourth-quarter 2011, but the county’s average weekly wage dropped 2.6 percent from a year ago, according to the latest county employment and wages report, released today by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With 151,800 workers at 8,000 establishments, Greene County landed at No. 42 among the nation’s 323 largest counties, according to a BLS news release. Between December 2010 and 2011, employment was up in 266 of the counties, with the largest increase in Kern, Calif., where there was a 5.3 percent gain.

With the 2.6 percent drop, the average weekly wage in Greene County was $709, which puts the county at No. 224 among the 323 largest counties, the release said. Greene County’s quarterly weekly average wages were outpaced by the national average weekly wage, which was $955 in the fourth quarter, the release said.

The largest drop in average weekly wages for the quarter was in Olmsted, Minn., where wages fell 21.3 percent, according to the report.